Android smartphone shipments top 65,000 per day

Google announced that shipments of smartphones running its Android mobile operating system now exceed 65,000 per day, up from about 60,000 a month ago. Speaking at the digital services giant's annual shareholders meeting Thursday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Android now powers 34 mobile devices in 49 countries. "It looks like Android is going to be either the number one or number two player" in the mobile device market, Schmidt said. "Our partners are shipping about 65,000 Android handsets per day, but if you check the blogosphere you'll discover there are some reports that that number might be quite low." Schmidt also took a shot at rival Apple, noting "We're trying to build an entire ecosystem of openness--the inverse of the other guys."

Google co-founder Larry Page, also on hand at Thursday's meeting, said the company's open-source Android licensing strategy supports the firm's longterm revenue ambitions, providing benefits "through more searches and other things that we do. I think you'll see that as those products mature, we'll figure out how to make more money from them." Schmidt agreed, adding "While it's true that we're very happy to give away Android, the applications and the services that can be provided on a very large, very broad framework can be enormously valuable over the next five or 10 years."

Buoyed by strong consumer interest in devices like the Motorola Droid, Android now represents 28 percent of smartphone unit sales in the U.S.--behind only Research In Motion's BlackBerry (36 percent) and moving past Apple's iPhone (21 percent)--according to data issued last week by market research firm NPD Group. Carrier distribution and promotion are critical to Android's growth, NPD said: "In order to compete with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless has expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to now include all of their smartphones," said NPD executive director of industry analysis Ross Rubin in a prepared statement.

For more on Google's Android shipping metrics:
- read this AFP article

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